Collapsible stool

ABSTRACT

A collapsible stool is disclosed including an outer side wall which is expandable to form a shell for receiving a central brace in the form of a number of leaves bound together along a central line. A cushion fits into an upper recess. When collapsed, the three members are compact and easily carried.

United States Patent Hirsch [4 1 May 16,1972

[ COLLAPSIBLE STOOL [72] Inventor: Irving C. Hirsch, 4212 W. Golf,Skokie,

[22] Filed: Aug. 6, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 61,579

[52] U.S. Cl ..297/439, 297/462 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47c 9/12, A47c 3/00[58] Field of Search ..297/17, 439, 440, 461, 462;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,023,050 2/1962 Jensen..297/462 2,749,012 6/1956 Beach ..229/14 C 3,403,835 10/1968 Schwaner2,456,964 12/1948 Ledure ..297/442 X Primary Examiner-Casmir A. NunbergAttorney-Dawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lungmus [57] ABSTRACT A collapsiblestool is disclosed including an outer side wall which is expandable toform a shell for receiving a central brace in the form of a number ofleaves bound together along a central line. A cushion fits into an upperrecess. When collapsed, the three members are compact and easily carried3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEHMM 16 I972 I is? COLLAPSIBLE STOOLBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a portablestool; and more particularly, it relates to a stool which is collapsiblefor convenience of carrying.

Portable chairs and stools are known in the art, and for the most part,the portable chairs which are commercially available are made fromtubular aluminum, fitted with webs; and they fold into a compactposition for carrying. These types of chairs and folding lawn chairs arerather awkward to carry because they are not very compact when folded,and they are relatively expensive. Various cardboard or paper chairshave been suggested, but none of these have achieved commercialacceptance.

SUMMARY The present invention relates to a collapsible stool which iscomprised 'of three individual parts which, when separate, form acompact unit which is easily carried. One part is a continuous side wallhaving a plurality of straight wall sections joined together with tapeto form a flexible joint between adjacent straight sections. Whenopened, the adjacent side wall sections are angularly inclined to form acorner, and the side wall provides a shell for the stool. The side wallfolds so that all of the straight sections lie flat aside one another.

A second part of the stool is a brace which includes a number of flathardboard leaves hinged together along a common edge in book fashion.When expanded, the brace is received in the side wall with each leafextending outwardly, and the distal end of each leaf fits snugly in acorner ofthe side wall so that the brace holds the side wall in itsexpanded position and, in turn, is held in its expanded position by theside wall.

The third part of the stool is a seat which is received in an upperrecess formed when the brace is inserted into the side wall. Thecombination of center brace and side wall forms a structure which ishighly resistant to crushing, and it therefore makes a very sturdy, yeteconomical seat or stool.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentto persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description ofa preferred embodiment wherein identical reference numerals will referto like parts in the various views.

THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inventive seat in afolded condition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the seat of FIG. 1 wherein the threeparts are exploded showing assembly; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of the inventive stool inassembled condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Turning first to FIG. 1, there are shown the threeseparate elements of the inventive stool or seat, and they are respectively a cushion or seat member generally designated 10, a brace membergenerally designated 11 and a side wall or shell generally designated12. In the illustrated embodiment, in horizontal cross section, thestool has a hexagonal shape, and, therefore, so does the cushion member10. The cushion includes a flat hexagonal support 13 which may be formedof cardboard, hardboard, or any other fairly rigid material. To the topof the base board 13 there is secured (as with adhesive) a cushion orseat pad 14 which may be made of flexible plastic foam, such aspolyethylene.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the side wall 12 includes six separate flatpanels designated respectively 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d, 15e, and 15f.Adjacent of the panels 15a-15f are hinged together with elongated piecesof flexible tape, designated respectively l6a-l6b. The panels 15a-15fare hinged so that the outer wall formed thereby may be folded in halfand then folded twice again on itself, as shown in FIG. 1, to collapseinto a relatively small, compact element for carrying. For example, theoutside wall 15 may be folded first about the tape hinges 16b and 16e sothat the inner surfaces of the panels 15a and 15b engage as well as theinner surfaces of panels 15f, 15c and 15c, 15d. Next, the panels arefolded about the hinge 160 so that the outer surfaces of panels 15b andare brought into contact, and the panels are also folded about the hingetape 16f so that the outer surface of panels 15c and 15f are broughtinto contact, thus forming the compact structure shown in FIG. 1.

When the outer wall 12 is expanded, as shown in FIG. 2, adjacent ones ofthe panels are angularly inclined so as to form a corner, see forexample the corner denoted by reference numeral 18 which is formedbetween the adjacent panels 15d and 15e.

Turning now to the brace member 11, it includes six flat panelsdesignated respectively 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20c, and 20f in FIG. 2. Eachof the panels 20a-20f is joined together by means of a central hinge 21from which they extend radially. The central hinge 21 may again beformed of elongated strips of flexible pressure sensitive tape, and itwill be observed that each of the panels 20a-20f forms a leaf so thatwhen the leaves are closed, in book-fashion as illustrated in FIG. 1,they form a compact structure similar to the folded, collapsed side wall12.

When the side wall 12 is opened as illustrated in FIG. 2, it forms anouter shell for the stool, and it is adapted, then, to receive the brace11 as indicated by the direction of the arrows in FIG. 2 in telescopingrelation. Each of the distal edges of the leaves 20a-20f are receivedrespectively in the corners between adjacent ones of the side panels inthe side wall 12. Thus, when the brace 11 is inserted in the side wall12, the brace member, extended in the shape of a star with equal angulardisplacement between adjacent leaves act to hold the side wall 12 in itsopened state. Conversely, the side wall 12 cooperates with the openedbrace to maintain it in its extended or open position. That is, forexample, the outer distal edge of the leaf 202 is received in the corner18, and the outer distal edges of other leaves are similarly received incorners formed by adjacent panels of the side wall member 12, and thefit is preferably a snug one so that the structural rigidity of thecombined elements is enhanced.

Turning now to FIG. 3, the overall length of the leaves 20a-20 ispreferably slightly less than the overall length of the panels 15a-15fto form an upper recess for receiving the baseboard 13 of the seat 10,thus locking it in place.

The stool of the present invention is highly resistant to crushing thatis, it will bear relatively large loads without collapsing because ofthe vertical positioning of the leaves of the brace member 11. Thematerial used for the panels of the side wall 12, the leaves of thebrace 11, and the base panel 13 of the seat 10 will depend upon theapplication and the desired cost. However, inexpensive cardboard hasbeen found to be desirable; and preferably has the thickness in therange of about one-fourth to three-eighths in. Other sheet material mayequally well be employed, such as plastic, hardboard, wood, etc.

Having thus described in detail a preferred embodiment of the inventivestool, persons skilled in the art will be able to modify certain of thestructure which has been illustrated and to substitute equivalentelements for those which have been disclosed; and it is, therefore,intended that all such modifications and substitutions be covered asthey are embraced within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A collapsible stool comprising: a side wall member ineluding aplurality of panels of elongated rigid sheet material; means for hingingeach longitudinal edge of each panel of said side wall member withassociated edges of adjacent panels while permitting all of said panelsto fold together in superposed relation; whereby when said side wall isexpanded adjacent panels define a corner along a joint; a brace memberineluding a plurality of leaves of rigid sheet material, means forhinging one edge of each of said leaves together along a common hingeline while permitting said leaves to open in book fashion, whereby whensaid leaves are opened and said side wall is expanded, said side wallforms a shell having a closed cross section and adapted to receive saidbrace member in snug engagement with an outer free edge of each leafreceived in a corner provided by adjacent ones of said panels; and acushion member adapted to engage said brace member when inserted intosaid side wall for being supported thereby.

2. The stool of claim 1 wherein each of said panels of said side walland each of said leaves of said brace member is elongated in thedirection of attachment of their associated hinge means, and wherein theelongation of said side wall member is slightly greater than theelongation of said brace member to define a recess for receiving andlocking said cushion member when said brace member is received-in saidside wall.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said first-named hinge means forconnecting adjacent panels of said side wall comprises flexiblepressure-sensitive tape securing adjacent panels along a common joint,and wherein said last-named hinge means for securing said leaves along acommon hinge line is flexible pressure-sensitive tape.

1. A collapsible stool comprising: a side wall member including aplurality of panels of elongated rigid sheet material; means for hingingeach longitudinal edge of each panel of said side wall member withassociated edges of adjacent panels while permitting all of said panelsto fold together in superposed relation; whereby when said side wall isexpanded adjacent panels define a corner along a joint; a brace memberincluding a plurality of leaves of rigid sheet material, means forhinging one edge of each of said leaves together along a common hingeline while permitting said leaves to open in book fashion, whereby whensaid leaves are opened and said side wall is expanded, said side wallforms a shell having a closed cross section and adapted to receive saidbrace member in snug engagement with an outer free edge of each leafreceived in a corner provided by adjacent ones of said panels; and acushion member adapted to engage said brace member when inserted intosaid side wall for being supported thereby.
 2. The stool of claim 1wherein each of said panels of said side wall and each of said leaves ofsaid brace member is elongated in the direction of attachment of theirassociated hinge means, and wherein the elongation of said side wallmember is slightly greater than the elongation of said brace member todefine a recess for receiving and locking said cushion member when saidbrace member is received in said side wall.
 3. The combination of claim1 wherein said first-named hinge means for connecting adjacent panels ofsaid side wall comprises flexible pressure-sensitive tape securingadjacent panels along a common joint, and wherein said last-named hingemeans for securing said leaves along a common hinge line is flexiblepressure-sensitive tape.